Citrus is the most popular kind of fruit grown in Louisiana. This time of year, satsumas and other types of citrus are abundant — and delicious. Several biotic and abiotic stresses affect citrus yields, however, and may dishearten home gardeners when they cannot enjoy their harvest.
Read MoreIt may seem like we just finished the Fourth of July, but it’s time again to rearrange the furniture and find the perfect spot for this year’s Christmas tree.
Pretty much everywhere you look these days, there are trees being sold, hauled or trimmed. Taking proper care of a tree once you get it home could mean the difference between a merry Christmas and a disaster.
Read MoreAn invasive species is defined as a nonnative plant or organism that can be introduced into a new environment through a variety of means. Left unchecked, invasive species can cause tremendous, and in some cases irreparable, economic or environmental damage. Louisiana’s agricultural and natural resources continue to be under attack from a wide variety of invasive species. Some of these invasive species are new to the state, while others have been here for a long time.
Read MoreThree years ago, Tara Sanchez and Eddie Cortez bought an abandoned trailer park outside New Orleans. The weed-choked shells of old mobile homes remained on the overgrown acreage, a 100-foot-wide parcel that stretched more than a mile to a bayou. When they saw the overgrown property in northern Plaquemines Parish, they envisioned a farm with beehives, berry bushes, olive trees and a greenhouse full of cucumbers.
Read MoreIt can be hard to believe that some children don’t know where their food comes from. But the LSU AgCenter is helping improve that knowledge around the state.
Students from 10 central Louisiana parishes got a lesson in how agriculture touches many areas of their lives during the AgCenter’s annual AgMagic Cenla event Nov. 16 and 17.
Read MoreLSU horticulture students are learning practices that will stay with them for a lifetime, including how to battle food insecurity in the campus community.
Carl Motsenbocker’s Principles and Practices of Olericulture course teaches students about the science of growing, harvesting and marketing vegetables. A hands-on lab for this course takes place at the Hill Farm Teaching Facility, located on the LSU main campus in Baton Rouge.
Read MoreWith the holiday season, Americans prepare for family dinners, gatherings and neighborhood potlucks. As they shop, they’ll fill their grocery carts with delicious and nutritious foods developed by animal and plant breeders at land-grant universities — many from across the southern United States.
Read MoreThe annual poinsettia sale has been rescheduled, but the beauty of the holidays will still be on full display Saturday, Dec. 3.
The date is the only change, as the time remains from 9 a.m. to noon at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden as this year’s poinsettia crop is presented.
Read MoreIn Louisiana and across America, consumers have been coping with rising grocery costs all year.
With Thanksgiving approaching, there’s finally good news for local shoppers preparing for a big holiday meal. The average cost in Louisiana of ingredients for a Turkey Day spread for 10 people is $50.43, according to the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation.
Read MoreIn 2020, while summer activities across the state were slowly canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, LSU AgCenter employees were determined to keep youths engaged in agricultural endeavors. They developed a pumpkin growing contest with the goal of providing children with an activity they could do at home that would teach them about farming. Many young people were stuck at home, so the extra time could easily be spent in the garden.
Read MoreKristen Head’s love for animals is exceeded only by her drive to succeed. Now a second-year student in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, she saw an opportunity to reach her dreams one year early through the 3+1 program and took it
Read MoreStress for trees can be a lot like stress in humans — too much is never a good thing.
Pines, the main tree species in Louisiana forests, are susceptible to several biotic and abiotic stresses, said Raj Singh, LSU AgCenter plant doctor.
Read MoreThis month’s 2022/23 U.S. corn outlook is for higher production, larger feed and residual use, and greater ending stocks. Corn production is forecast at 13.930 billion bushels, up 35 million from last month on a 0.4-bushel increase in yield to 172.3 bushels per acre. Feed and residual use is higher based on a larger crop. With supply rising more than use, corn ending stocks are raised 10 million bushels.
Read MoreThe number of commercial citrus growers continues to dwindle in south Louisiana, and saltwater intrusion has made growing citrus in some areas all but impossible.
For several years now, growers have been fighting what they say seems like a losing battle trying to slow the flow of saltwater — which spells death to many fruit and vegetable crops — that’s creeping in under their citrus groves.
Read MoreParticipate in the first Golden Boot Giving Challenge! The LSU College of Agriculture is participating in a one-week giving challenge against the University of Arkansas Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences
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